Eric Mack is a boyhood pro sports dreamer who needed a couple of broken ankles, multiple concussions, a semi-serious knee injury and numerous bruises -- including a contusion of the ego -- to realize he will only make the big leagues by staying on the sidelines.

A country boy from rural western N.Y., he was schooled at Syracuse University's journalism program (class of '98) and couldn't wait to fly south -- where the Orange actually grows -- for his first post-graduate job at CBSSports.com in Fort Lauderdale. After six-plus years as a news editor, he became a Fantasy Baseball Senior Writer.

Eric prides himself in prospect tracking and statistical analysis, the kind that goes into correlation and the mathematics of causal modeling and forecasting. That led him to another passion, APBA, an ultra-intense baseball stats simulation game that is Fantasy Baseball on the juice. To him, the player's the thing, and it is always about finding the "who" will happen next.

Though a two-time New York Press Association sports feature award winner, Eric makes sure to never let a story get in the way of a good stat. Stats don't lie -- unless you want them to -- but he assures us he will do his best to tell their truths.